Volunteer group pushing for Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania

For years, the Keystone State has allowed Sunday hunting for crows, coyotes and foxes. The challenge has come as advocates have looked to provide more widespread Sunday hunting opportunities.

For years, the Keystone State has allowed Sunday hunting for crows, coyotes and foxes. The challenge has come as advocates have looked to provide more widespread Sunday hunting opportunities. (karlumbriaco / Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Mark DemkoSpecial to The Morning Call

Attempts to expand Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania have stalled the last several years due to opposition from various groups and disagreement among sportsmen as to whether it should be allowed.

Now, the all-volunteer Hunters United for Sunday Hunting is renewing its efforts to expand Sunday hunting in the state by taking a new approach — using education and a strong volunteer base as a catalyst for change.

For years, the Keystone State has allowed Sunday hunting for crows, coyotes and foxes. The challenge has come as advocates have looked to provide more widespread Sunday hunting opportunities, with opposition coming from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, hiking groups and organizations opposed to hunting. Coupled with this, some sportsmen are concerned any expansion to Sunday hunting might include white-tailed deer, a species that’s viewed as abundant by some and in severe decline by others, depending on where a person hunts.

While the Pennsylvania Game Commission has come out in favor of Sunday hunting, the authority to regulate hunting on this day rests with the state Legislature since Title 34 of the State Game & Wildlife Code prohibits it except for select instances.

HUSH Executive Director Harold Daub said the organization concentrate on educatingthe public as to why the time has come for Sunday hunting expansion and the fact that the PGC has no say in the matter right now. The group’s other main objective will be working with legislators to have Title 34 wording that prohibits Sunday hunting changed or eliminated, Daub said. HUSH also wants to place that decision-making authority with the PGC, the agency that’s responsible for managing the state’s 480-plus wildlife species.

“We’re not trying to get a [certain] species hunted on a Sunday or particular Sundays opened up to Sunday hunting,” Daub said. “We’re trying to take the regulatory authority for setting seasons and bag limits and putting all of that under the Pennsylvania Game Commission.”

Daub said the approach HUSH is taking is different from past efforts, with individual HUSH chapters being formed in all 67 counties. In addition, his group will look to connect with farmers and nonresident sportsmen who travel to Pennsylvania to hunt, all in an effort to show that there is strong support for the change. In an ideal situation, Daub envisions groups of up to 10 sportsmen in each county meeting with their local representatives and senators to discuss the issue and any related concerns.

“This isn’t going to be one person or a group of five or 10 people [this time],” Daub said. “This is a grassroots effort.”

While Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting push stalled in recent years, bordering states have moved to permit some form of Sunday hunting.

New Jersey recently legalized archery deer hunting on private lands and state wildlife management areas. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia have added or expanded opportunities for Sunday hunting.

Maine and Massachusetts are the only two states that do not permit any hunting on Sundays. Pennsylvania is seen as one that substantially restricts Sunday hunting opportunities.

Daub said the states bordering Pennsylvania initially experienced the same kind of resistance to Sunday hunting, even from some sportsmen.

“It’s an unfortunate advantage [for us], but we can look to the states around us and see what worked and what didn’t work,” he said. “There’s not one state that has gone to seven days of wildlife management … that has introduced any legislation or any thought of stepping back away from that.”

Sunday hunting supporters cite numerous reasons expansion would benefit the state from having a positive economic impact on communities to boosting sagging hunting license sales, which would ultimately help provide more funding for a variety of wildlife programs enjoyed by all residents. The biggest, however, may be the chance to provide additional opportunities to get more youth involved in a sport that has seen a serious participation decline in recent years.

“We need to do more to get kids involved,” said Bob Schwalm, a Fountain Hill resident who is serving as HUSH’s Lehigh County coordinator. “It’s extremely difficult to get young people out and get them involved in hunting. Monday through Friday they have school and sports, and Saturday they have sports. There’s only one day available for them.”

State Rep. Joe Emrick (R-Northampton County), an avid sportsmen, said he’s not opposed to expanding opportunities.

“Exactly what that expansion looks like and would involve is an important conversation we should have moving into the future,” Emrick said. “My concerns lie in turning over to the Pennsylvania Game Commission full authority for implementing such an expansion.

“Many hunters are upset and disappointed by the manner in which the PGC has managed the white-tailed deer population. I’m one of them, and am leery of empowering them further, given that history.”

In 2006, the state sold a combined 98,163 resident junior and junior combo hunting licenses (ages 12-16), but by 2016 that number dropped to 76,505, a decline of 22 percent.

Studies show that many sportsmen stop hunting around the age of 65, which means it’s likely a number of individuals will leave the sport in the coming years as baby boomers move through the ranks, causing overall hunters numbers to drop even more.

“If we don’t get Sunday hunting [passed],” Schwalm said, “I am very fearful that hunting will no longer exist within 10 years.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Sunday hunting or volunteering with HUSH can contact Harold Daub at daubh@comcast.net or visit the HUSH Facebook page.

Mark Demko is a freelance writer. Contact him at mdemko@ptd.net or follow him on Twitter at @markdemko1.